
About to head off on the trip of a lifetime and hoping it doesn't turn into the trip of some long-spent toilet time? Then you may be interested in the findings of a recent review of natural medicines for traveller's diarrhoea.
According to the review by Marc Cohen, who is Professor of Complementary Medicine at RMIT University in Victoria, and the president of the Australasian Integrative Medicine Association (AIMA), things are looking up for what we can do naturally to fight 'Bali belly' or the like.
Good old traveller's diarrhoea is thought to affect 60 percent of travellers who travel to developing countries, and in terms of frequency and economic impact, it is the number one health issue related to overseas travel. Although the symptoms (such as diarrhoea, abdominal cramping, vomiting and nausea) usually subside within approximately four days, sometimes the symptoms continue for weeks and may even go on to cause Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
It is thought that 80 to 85 percent of cases of traveller's diarrhoea are caused by opportunistic harmful bacteria, with E.Coli being the most common. However, other bacteria, viruses or parasites may be implicated. Factors such as stress, changes in food, water, environment and body rhythms during travel and jetlag may contribute to a disruption in the normal balance of good bacteria in the gut, which usually protect against the attachment and colonisation of harmful bacteria. And herein lies the theory of why travellers are so susceptible to diarrhoea.
The good news is that, according to Cohen, 'there is now good evidence to suggest that probiotics may provide effective prophylaxis by inhibiting pathogen attachment, enhancing the immune response and assisting in re-establishing normal microflora.' What does this mean? It means that by ingesting good bacteria either in our food or in supplemental form, we may help to prevent the bad bacteria from taking a hold and giving us diarrhoea.
And the evidence is quite impressive. A 2005 meta analysis (review of scientific research) gathered data from 12 high quality, randomised, controlled trials. There were 4709 participants overall, and results suggest that 85 percent of traveller’s diarrhoea cases were prevented by probiotics. That is surely not something to 'poo poo' (pardon the pun).
I'd love to hear from you. Are probiotics part of your travel essentials?